Vacuum cleaner nozzle adjustment



Feb. 18, 1958 J. B. KIRBY v VACUUM CLEANER NOZZLE ADJUSTMENT Filed Aug.51, 1953 4 Sheets-Shet 1 INVENTOR JAMES B. R

BY E/CHEY, W 775,50 R7b/V2 7-WFMV) A77 ENEYS Feb. 18, 1958 J. B. KIRBY2,823,412

VACUUM CLEANER NOZZLE ADJUSTMENT Filed Aug. 31, 195:5 I 4 sheet -snet 2INVENTOR. 7A 1755 B. K/RBY R/CHE %ATT EOGERTOAMM-NE/VNY A rrozezvs' Y5Feb. 18,1958 J. B. KIRBY 2,823,412

VACUUM CLEANER NOZZLE ADJUSTMENT Filed Aug. 31, 1953 4 Sheets-SheetfiINVENTOR. JAMES. .B-AIRBY W Y ,4 TTORNZYS Feb. 18, 1958 J. B. KlRB Y2,823,412

VACUUM CLEANER NOZZLE ADJUSTMENT Filed Aug. 31, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTOR. TA/1E5 3v K/EBY BY J Y RIC/ff Y WA US E 5FRWMNENN, C I 1 I ATTRNEYS United States Patent VACUUM CLEANER NOZZLE ADJUSTMENT James B.Kirby, West Richfield, Ohio Application August 31, 1953, Serial No.377,481

Claims. (Cl. -354) In vacuum cleaners of the floor cleaner typeembodying a nozzle containing a rotating brush, the most efiicientcleaning operation, with the minimum of wear on the carpet, is obtainedwhen the suction holds the carpet off the floor in sealing engagementwith the nozzle and in contact with the brush. In order to obtain thisoperation in a cleaner of general utility it is necessary that thenozzle be adjustable with respect to the supporting surface.

The present invention provides a nozzle adjustment for a vacuum cleanerof this type in which the nozzle is normally urged to its uppermostposition with respect to the supporting surface and may be simply andeasily lowered by the operator until the carpet is lifted from the floorby the suction into sealing engagement with the nozzle. The sealing ofthe carpet against the mouth of the nozzle produces a distinct change inthe sound of the air entering the nozzle, and, at the same time, thesound of the rotating brush engaging the carpet becomes audible, thusproviding a distinct signal to the operator that the nozzle has beenlowered the proper amount for most etficient operation.

According to the present invention the nozzle is automatically latchedin the desired adjusted position after it has been lowered to thecorrect point. A single control member, or pedal, is provided which canbe easily pressed down causing proportionate downward movement of thenozzle to the correct position. The control member is then released bythe operator, the nozzle remaining in the selected position. When thesingle control member, or pedal, is pushed to its extreme lower positionthe latching means is released and the nozzle returns to its uppermostposition, at which point the latching means again becomes operative.

Further features, objects and advantages of the present invention willappear from the following description in the appended drawings whereinFig. 1 is a perspective view of the cleaner in its entirety, showing thenozzle adjustment provided at one side of the cleaner body;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation taken from the front of the cleaner with thefloor nozzle and rear wheels omitted showing the nozzle adjustmentmechanism;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation showing parts of the nozzleadjusting mechanism in phantom outline with the nozzle ata high positionwith respect to the surface to be cleaned;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the nozzle in a loweredposition;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the adjusting mechanism similar to Fig. 3 butwith the nozzle removed and showing details of the holding pawl;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4 with parts removed to illustrate theposition of the mechanism as the nozzle approaches its lowermostposition;

i Fig. 7 is an elevation with parts broken away to show the pawl releaseoperation as the nozzle reaches its lowermostlimit;

Fig. 8 is a plan view taken on the plane 88 of Fig. 6 showing theindicia employed on relatively moving parts to indicate the nozzleadjustment; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on the plane 99 of Fig. 6.

The vacuum cleaner illustrated in Fig. l is of the type known as a floorcleaner, in that the cleaner body 5 is propelled over the surface to becleaned by means of the handle 6 and is supported by floor engagingwheels 7, 8, 9 and 10. The floor cleaner illustrated incudes a removablebody section 11 which is in the form of a scoop and facilitates theremoval of the dirt and lint which may be collected in the dust bag 12.The details of the floor cleaner construction are disclosed and claimedin my copending application Serial No. 363,311, filed June 22, 1953. Itwill be understood as this description proceeds that the nozzleadjusting mechanism of the instant application is well suited tonumerous types of vacuum cleaners.

The nozzle adjustment mechanism is secured to the forward underside ofthe cleaner body as best illustrated in Fig. 2 and comprises a block 12extending transversely of the cleaner and having a depending bearingblock 13 at the left end thereof and a depending bearing block 14 at theright thereof. The underside of each of the hearing blocks 13 and 14 isrecessed to receive a transverse wheel connecting shaft 15. The shaft 15is rotatably mounted in the bearing blocks and is retained in the recessby plates 16 and 17 which are secured to the underside of the bearingblocks. The wheel 10 is rotatably mounted onan axle shaft 18eccentricaly of the wheel connecting shaft 15 by the eccentric block 19.The wheel 7 is similarly mounted for rotation about the axis indicatedat 20 by the member 21 fixed to the right hand end of the shaft 15. Thisarrangement provides that the supporting wheels 7 and 10 swing in unisonabout the axis of the shaft 15 and thus raise and lower the nozzledepending upon the displacement of the wheel axis from the horizontalplane of the axis through the shaft 15. A spring 22 is coiled about theshaft 15 and is anchored at one end to the shaft by the adjustablecollar 23, which may be turned to a desired position and tightened onthe shaft to adjust the tension of the spring. The other end of thespring, as at 24, is brought into engagement with the block 12 and thespring is wound and biased so as to normally turn the. shaft 15 in aclockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6. Thus the spring iswound so as to swing the shaft 15 about its axis and raise the nozzle toits maximum height with respect to the floor in the absence of any meansrestraining such turning movement.

Referring to Fig. 3, the member 21 which carries the wheel 7 eccentricof the shaft 15, is provided with a sector of gear teeth on a majorportion of its periphery. The gear teeth are concentric with respect tothe axis 15 and are arranged to interengage or mesh with a sector ofgear teeth on the pedal 25 which is pivotally mounted in the block 12 bythe pivot pin 26. The intermeshing gear teeth on the member 21 and thepedal 25 is such that when the pedal is depressed the member 21 isrotated in a counterclockwise direction as shown in Figs. 3 to 6, andthe extent to which the pedal is turned or depressed is a function ofthe nozzle movement. When the pedal is depressed from the position shownin Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 4, the shaft 15 is turned in acounterclockwise direction and the floor nozzle 27 is brought from itshigh position to its lowermost position. The cleaner body pivots aboutthe rear wheels 8 and 9 as the front wheels 7 and 10 are raised orlowered so that the nozzle, which is located in front of the frontwheels, is raised and lowered through a slightly greater distance thanthe front wheels, The mechanical advantage of the pedal is preferably,as in the illustrated embodiments, sufficiently great so that the freeend of the pedal travels through a substantially greater distance thanthe cleaner nozzle, thereby permitting accurate: and easy; control ofthe nozzle position.

It is desirable to provide the end of the pedal 25 with a substantialmechanical advantage with respect 'to. the vertical movement of thenozzle, since the total required-v nozzle movement is relatively small,and a substantially greater total pedal movement is needed to provideeasy f andaccurate control by the operators foot. At the same time, theangle through which the pedal turns about its pivot 26 must be-keptsmall so that the upper surface of the pedal is always in position to beeasily engaged .by the foot; Likewise, it is desirable to turn the axlethrough a relatively large angle in order to facilitate latching thenozzle in asufiicient number of adjusted positions and also provide aneasily read indicator of the nozzle position as described hereinafter.

All of these antagonisms are reconciled in the preferred embodiment ofthe invention as illustrated in which the pedal 25 is of substantiallength from its pivot 26 while the gear teeth on the pedal are at agreater radius from the pivot 26 than the radiusof the gear teeth on themember 21 from the axle 15. At the same time the axes of the wheels 7and 10 are offset a relatively small distance from the axis ofthe shaft15, so that the vertical component of the movement of the wheels withrespect to the cleaner body is small compared to the travel of the freeend of the foot pedal.

To hold the member 21 and the shaft15 in any of its adjusted positionsagainst the urging of the spring 22, a ratchet including member 21 as aratchet wheel cooperable with a pivoted spring-pressed pawl 28 isprovided.

The pawl is pivoted as at 29 to the block 12 andincludes I a portion 30adapted to engage the gear teeth on the periphery of the member 21. Thepawlalso includes a portion 31 which is notched at its free end toreceive oneend of a U-shaped spring 32. The other end of the U-shapedspring rests in a notch in a pin 33 carried by the block 12.The-tendency of the spring 32 to expand normally urges the portion 30 ofthe pawl to engage the gear teeth on the periphery of the member 21. Astop pin 34 limits the swinging of the pawl in one direction in responseto the action of the spring 32. The pin 34 is also anchored in the block12 (see Fig. 9). Thus it will be understood that as the pedal isdepressed, such depression may be arrested at any point and that uponrelease of the foot treadle by the operator, the pawl 28 will hold themember 21 against rotation in response to the spring 22. Thus theoperator may progressively lower the cleaner nozzle toward the surfaceto be cleaned by depressing the pedal. When the desired cleaningposition is obtained, foot pressure on the treadle is removed and thenozzle remains in its adjusted position. It will be understood by thoseskilled inthe art that for thick deep pile rugs the nozzle will not belowered to the maximum extent as shown in Fig. 4.

When it is desired to raise the nozzle 27 from any predetermined lowerposition, the foot treadle is depressed to its maximum extent. Fig. 6shows the relation of the nozzle adjustment parts as this maximumlowered position is approached. The approach to this maximum loweredposition is indicated to the operator by slightly increased resistanceto pedal depression. The increased resistance to pedal depression iseffected by bringing the transverse pin- 36 carried by the pedal 25 intoengagement with a coil spring 37 carried by the block 12. By referenceto Figs. 6 and 7 it will be noted that the pin 36 compresses thespring37 as the limit of the'pedal depression is reached.

Coincident with the limiting downward movement of the'pedal' 25, a pin38 carriedby, the-member'21 is brought into' engagement with a dependingarm 38 in tegrallyformed' on the pawl289 The-pin "38 extends from 4 theface of the member 21 and the pin 38 is effective to tilt the pawl 28 ina clockwise direction about its pivot 29 (see Fig. 7). This swings theportion 30 of the pawl out of engagement with the teeth on the member 21and thus the member 21 and the shaft 15 are free to turn in a clockwisedirection in response to the spring 22. As the pawl 28 is rocked to itsdisengaged position, it rocks the U-shaped spring 32 to an over centerposition so that the spring 32 now tends to hold-the pawl'initsdisengaged position with the portion 31 of the pawl against a stoppin 46 carried by the block 12. Thus it will be understood that theU-shaped spring'32 operates-to bias the pawl into either of two.positions-one being the engaged position with the portion 30 engagingthe teeth on member 21 (Figs. 5 and 6), and the other being thedisengaged position with the portion 31 of the pawl against the stop pin40. The pawl remains in such disengaged position as the spring rapidlyswings the shaft'15 in a tion.

pawl over dead-center to its engaged position.

the member 21 throws the pawl to its engaged position;

At the limit of the depressing movement on the pedal 25 the pawl isdisengaged and the pin 41 limits upward movement of the nozzle.

The spring 32 functions-not only to hold the pawl'28=' in engagedposition as illustrated in Fig. 6 and disco gaged position asillustrated in Fig. 7, but also func-' tions as a pawl spring so as topermit the gear teeth on the member 21 to ratchet past the endof'the'pawl during downward movement of the pedal and consefquentcounterclockwise rotation of the member 21; In the illustratedarrangement, when the pawl is in itsengaged position, as illustrated inFigs. 5 and"6, a line connecting the axis of the pivot 29 with'thenotchfin the pin 33 passes below the spring receiving lnotch in the endof the arm 31 of the pawl. Thus theforce bring the notch in the end ofthe arm 31 below the-line connecting the pivot 29 with the notch inthepin'33. Thus the spring 32 continues to act during this opera-- tionto urge the pawl to rotate in a counterclockwise direction and thusreturn to its engaged position'aft'er' each succeeding tooth on themember 21'passes the 'por tion 30.

When the pedal is depressed to its maximum position and against theextra resistance provided by the spring 37, the pin 38 engagingthe-arm39 rocks the pawl far enough in a clockwise direction to bring the notchin'the end of-thearm '31 below the line connecting the pivot 29 with thenotch in the pin 33 so that the'force of the spring 32 acts to rotatethe pawl in a clockwise direction and hold the portion 30 out ofengagement with the teeth on the member 21 as shown in Fig. 7 andremains in this position until the nozzle is permittedto rise to itsuppermost position by relaxing the pressure on the pedal at which timethe pin '41 engages the arm 39 and swings the arm 31 above the centerline position to the position illustrated in Fig. 5;

Thespring 22 is preferably wound with suflicient -force so as-tohold thenozzle in any selected position-' of ady justment and prevent it frombeing pulled downwardly and in contact with the brush. The sealing ofthe carpet against the mouth of the nozzle produces a distinct change inthe sound of the air entering the nozzle and at the same time the soundof the rotating brush engaging the carpet becomes audible, thusproviding an audible signal advising the operator that the nozzle is inthe proper position of adjustment for cleaning that particular carpet.The force of the spring 22 holds the nozzle in the selected positionagainst the action of the suction and the weight and pull of the carpetwhich has now be added to the weight of the cleaner body so that as thecleaner is pushed along the carpet the portion of the carpet under thenozzle is progressively raised from the fiood and held in contact withthe brush so that air may enter from below the carpet and pass throughthe entire carpet as well as the nap while the carpet is suspended outof contact with the floor and rapidly agitated by the brush.

In spite of the fact that the spring 22 is thus strong enough to liftand resist not only the weight of the cleaner but the weight and thepull of the carpet and the action of the suction, the nozzle may bereadily and easily lowered by depression of the foot treadle because ofthe mechanical advantage of the treadle with respect to the nozzle andalso because of the fact that the foot treadle is pivoted on the cleanerbody itself so that the reaction of the pedal on its pivot 26 also actsin a direction to lower the nozzle. Thus the pedal moves downwardlyunder relatively slight pressure to lower the nozzle to its desiredadjusted position and at the same time the nozzle .is firmly heldagainst undesired further lowering as a result of the action of thecleaner. To visually indicate to the user the adjusted position of thenozzle, an arcuate plate 50 is mounted on the block 12. The plate 50 ispreferably marked as illustrated in Fig. 8 with a series of numbers 1 to6 spaced around the outer surface of the plate. A similarly shapedarcuate flange 51 is provided on a fiat plate 51a anchored to the member21 so as to turn therewith about the axis of the rock shaft 15. Thearcuate members 50 and 51 have the center of the shaft 15 as commoncenter and when the member 21 is turned the flange 51 rotates about thecenter of the shaft 15 relative to the plate 50 which is fixed to theblock 12. The moving member 51 is provided with an indicator or markeras at 53 which is adapted to be brought into alignment with any of theindicia 1 to 6 on the fixed member 50 by pedal movement rocking themember 21 and the plate 51a.' As illustrated in Fig. 8 the nozzle hasbeen lowered to its lowermost position and when released therefrom asabove described, the marker 53 will be moved around by a raisingmovement of the nozzle so as to be brought into alignment with number 6or high nozzle position on the plate 50. It will be understood that thepedal movement can be discontinued at any numbered position between 6and 1 as the operator is lowering the nozzle. One of the advantages ofthe visual indication is that the user from experience will learn whichof the numbered adjusting positions obtains maximum cleaning efiiciencyfor a particular rug or floor.

The visual indicator is made readily legible by reason of the fact thatthe gear teeth on the pedal 25 are at a substantially greater radiusfrom the pivot 26 than the radius of the gear teeth on the member 21from the axis of the shaft 15. Thus a given angular movement of thepedal about its pivot produces a substantially greater angular movementof the flange 51, so that the e 6 indicia on the flange 50 may be morewidely spaced for easier identification of the particular position ofthe nozzle.

While the prefen'ed embodiment has been described in considerabledetail, it will be understood that the invention is not limited theretoand that numerous modifications' and rearrangements of the parts may bemade without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:

l. Nozzle adjustment means for a vacuum cleaner body having a downwardlydirected nozzle including a transverse shaft journalled to said cleaner,a supporting wheel eccentrically connected to said shaft, a coil springsurrounding said shaft for rotating the same in a direction to raise thenozzle, means limiting the. rotation of said shaft, means for adjustingthe tension of said spring, a pedal pivoted on the cleaner body andgeared to the shaft so that, when the pedal is depressed, it rotatessaid shaft against the tension of said spring in a direction to lowerthe nozzle, a releasable pawl for holding said nozzle in a desiredadjusted position, and means operated by movement of said pedal to itslowermost position to release said pawl.

2. Nozzle adjusting means for a vacuum cleaner comprising a vacuumcleaner having a transverse floor nozzle, a member secured to saidcleaner adjacent the floor nozzle, a wheel shaft pivoted on said member,a supporting Wheel mounted eccentric of said wheel shaft at each end ofthe shaft, a pedal pivoted on the cleaner body, a first gear sectorconcentric with and fixed to the wheel shaft, a second gear sectormeshing with said first gear sector on said pedalconcentric with thepivot for the pedal whereby movement of said pedal effects movement ofsaid wheel shaft and moves said supporting wheels toward and away fromsaid cleaner body to lower and raise said floor nozzle.

3. Nozzle adjusting means for a vacuum cleaner comprising a vacuumcleaner body having a transverse floor nozzle, supporting wheels at therear of the cleaner body, a pair of spaced adjusting wheels at theforward end of the cleaner body, means to move said adjusting wheels inunison about a first axis eccentric of the wheel axes to raise and lowerthe floor nozzle with respect to a supporting surface, a shaft mountedon the cleaner body for limited rotational movement on said first axis,spring means interposed between said shaft and said body turning saidshaft in one direction to elevate said nozzle, a gear sector on saidshaft, a pedal pivoted to the cleaner body, a gear sector on the pedalin mesh with the gear sector on said shaft whereby depression of thepedal turns said shaft in a direction opposite to the turning moment ofsaid spring, a spring pressed pawl pivoted on the cleaner bodyengageable with said last mentioned gear to form a ratchet whereby saidshaft is held in adjusted position subsequent to pedal depression.

4. A nozzle adjusting mechanism for a vacuum cleaner comprising anelongated horizontally disposed body, wheel supporting means at the rearof said body, a shaft rotatably mounted transversely on the forward endof said body, said shaft having an eccentric crank portion at each endthereof, supporting wheels pivoted at each eccentric crank portionwhereby said last-named wheels are moved in unison toward and away fromthe cleaner body by rotation of said shaft, spring means interposedbetween the shaft and the body turning said shaft so as to move saidlast-named wheels away from the cleaner body and thereby raise theforward end of the cleaner, a pedal pivoted with respect to the cleanerbody adjacent said shaft, a gear sector fixed to said shaft concentrictherewith, a gear sector carried by said pedal concentric with the pivotfor the pedal whereby said shaft is turned in response to pedaldepression to move said last-named wheels toward said" body" and therebylower the forward end of the cleaner'body, a spring pressed pawl pivotedwith respect to the cleaner body'a'dapted to engage said last mentionedgear to form a ratchet and-hold the shaft in a position of adjus'tr'nent determined by the extent of pedaldepression.

5'. Nozzle adjusting, means for a vacuum cleaner comprising a vacuumcleaner body, a transverse wheelshaft, eccentric crank pins at each endof the said wheel shaft, supporting wheels on said crank pins, springmeans to turn said Wheel shaftin a direction moving said wheels awayfrom said cleaner body, a pedal mounted on the cleaner body, a gearsector fixed concentrically to said Wheel shaft, a meshinggear sectorcarried by the pedal concentrically of the pivotfor said pedal, a pawlpivoted' with respect to the cleaner body arranged to engage said lastmentioned" gear to form a ratchet, spring 8 meansbia'sing said pawl"into engagement with said" last mentioned gear'r'atchet, pawl releasemeans carried by the lastmentioned gear ratchet to move said pawl out ofengagement with said last' mentioned gear ratchet after pedal"depression has moved said wheel shaft to bring saidsupportin'g' wheelstowards the cleaner body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,995,084 Wiehle' Mar. 19, 1935 2,167,785 Taylor Aug. 1, 1939 2,178,006Taylor Oct. 31, 1939 2,289,711 Kirby July 14, 1942 2,389,881 White NOV.27, 1945 2,600,141 Turner June 10, 1952

